One mom, three kids, expecting some turbulence as we chase an education around the world, one country at a time.

Costa Rica, Here We Come!

We’re back at it again. Well, not quite at it again in the sense of taking off for a year and traveling around the world, but at it again as in I’ve found a country my children are willing to visit without too many complaints. Much to my chagrin I haven’t persuaded everyone to venture out for another year but I have been successful at convincing everyone we need another short stint in this world of ours. Next week we leave our ultimate happy place, the mountains of Colorado, for Costa Rica. It’s a compromise of sorts as my real hope was to drive from Texas to South America. Needless to say, that plan doesn’t thrill my kiddos, so, as they say in Costa Rica…poco a poco; little by little!

This beautiful country bordered by Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south will be our first foray as a family into Central America. The mission of this trip: learning Spanish for the kids, improving less than desirable Spanish skills developed in Costa Rica itself about 20 years ago, and hopefully instilling a lifelong desire to discover this amazing part of our world. We’ll spend our first ten days with my host family from what seems like a lifetime ago and then we’ll tackle the language as languages should be tackled…in situ. After our days in the Cartago region we’re headed to Samara, a small beach town on the Nicoya Peninsula, where we’ll have daily language classes followed by Salsa lessons, yoga, cooking classes and potentially a few surf lessons for good measure. And for an ultimate immersion experience, we’ll be living with a local family whom only speaks Spanish…so, if we can’t quite pick it up in class, we’ll be forced into learning out of sheer necessity!

So, stay tuned. I’m sure a few adventures will be had, drama will ensue, mistakes will be made and mishaps will occur and in the end we will walk away from this experience as we have so many others…more humbled and amazed both at this part of the world and our ability to adapt to the situations in which we continue to find ourselves. Costa Rica, ready or not, here we come!